LETTERS - the state will try the same old tricks in Rashan Charles inquest

Published Tue 6 Feb 2018

Issue No. 2590

Esa (centre), father of Rashan Charles, at a protest over Rashan's death in Hackney last July (Pic: Guy Smallman)

Rashan Charles, who died in east London last year, was the latest in a long line of young black men killed after contact with the police.

I can only imagine the pain, sorrow and hurt his family and friends have had to suffer.

There will now be an inquest into his death. We hope that justice will prevail and those responsible will be brought to task.

Sadly it has proved almost impossible to get a conviction against a police officer after a death in custody.

Yet one shade of hope is the Hillsborough inquiry, which firmly blamed the deaths of 96 fans on the police’s actions.

And it has left two senior ex police officers facing charges, including manslaughter.

Yet the police’s barrister John Beggs still managed to cause a great deal of upset and stress to the families of the 96 who died as a result of result of the disaster.

He repeated the police and media’s lies about fans. Some families were so upset and angry that they walked out.

And this same man has been chosen by the state to represent the cops in the Rashan Charles case.

The police, the media and the state will conspire together to put their version of the truth out. They will say that the police were in a hard situation trying their best.

It is a well-polished manoeuvre, from Hillsborough to the death of Mark Duggan to Rashan Charles.

They said that fans turning up late caused the Hillsborough disaster, that fans with no tickets pushed in and drunk fans caused trouble and abused police.

But the Hillsborough victory must now act as a beacon for other justice campaigns. I sincerely hope that we get justice for Rashan.

After the revolution, I hope I see John Beggs also served with justice in a socialist court.

Phil Rowan, South London

Yanis Varoufakis - no more heroes anymore

I was disappointed to see former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis endorse the Labour right’s campaign to stay in the Single Market.

He should know what the European Union (EU) actually means. He was part of the Syriza government’s attempt to negotiate with it.

Syriza refused to even contemplate leaving the EU. This meant its anti-austerity agenda was easily crushed by the “Troika”—the European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund.

Those of us with better memories than Yanis know that his strategy of preserving the EU to reform it was a complete disaster in Greece.

Richard Donnelly, South London

No win in fight for NHS if we don't beat racism

While campaigning for the NHS, I spoke to a woman who stopped and signed our petition.

Good news of German strike

Such mobilisations by workers could offer an alternative to the wretched scapegoating from the AfD party and its racist imitators.

But there need to be more and bigger strikes, plus socialist politics to point the way forward in unity.

Ann Jenkins, West London

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